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Artist Paul Harfleet’s interest lies in the implications of citizenship and its influence on navigation and memory of the urban environment. He augments and re-contextualises various sites and objects by allocating them with new meaning or significance often through drawing, photography and intervention.

Hut

The text (below) and image (left) was recently featured in 'We Belong Everywhere' a project organised by Anachron-Gen in Sheffield; for more information follow this link.The rail-side hut is a fascinating architectural remnant of some ambiguous activity that has occurred in some other time. The uncannyness of these structures dotted along rail-side verges consistently evoke a history that is invisible or half submerged. They are difficult to examine when one is speeding by on a train and when one is fortunate enough to be close by for a while they persist and linger in the memory.

The hut pictured near Guildford was once according to local rumour used by a music teacher to teach guitar to children. This seems unlikely as this hut backs on to open fields and appears inaccessible by car or pedestrian. Though the idea of some hidden dwelling housing an intimate teacher-pupil relationship is somewhat alarming, in this case this mysterious mythology emphasises the peculiar character of the structure.

Once a particularly special cabin has been noticed; a rail side hut has the ability to jog the passenger out of the trance like state that often accompanies rail travel. The variety of type is staggering; from wooden shed to dilapidated porta-cabin they always suggest contemplation. These self contained non-places that appear abandoned have lost their proper function; they now appear simply as dilapidations in the rail-side undergrowth amongst the budlea trees and wasteland. (below are recent image of the hut; 2007)